Ams{0P";iP877.rm'}  Chemistry  of  Oak,  Willow  and  Elm  Barks.  453 
the  palm  of  the  left  hand,  repeating  these  operations  till  the  candles 
have  grown  to  the  proper  size.  For  the  outside  coating  occasionally 
white  wax  is  used.  These  candles  are  made  of  all  dimensions  ;  for 
ceremonies  and  similar  occasions  candles  of  bleached  wax  are  employed 
of  a  fanciful  shape  and  painted  with  bright  colors.  The  art  of  candle- 
making  is  said  to  have  been  introduced  from  Loo  Choo  towards  the  end 
of  the  sixteenth  century.  Before  this  time  pieces  of  resinous  wood  or 
paper  dipped  into  oil  was  used.1  The  exports  of  Japan  wax  in  1874 
from  Hiogo  and  Osaka  were  7,410  piculs  ;  in  1875,  10,056.  Prices 
ranged  in  1875  between  11J  and  8J  dollars  per  picul.  The  consump- 
tion has  greatly  fallen  off  in  London  within  the  last  few  years,  owing  to 
previous  high  cost  of  the  article,  which  induced  buyers  to  substitute 
paraffin  and  other  cheaper  materials,  and  even  the  above  low  prices 
have  not  left  a  profit  to  shippers.  The  wax  is  now  generally  pre- 
pared in  large  square  blocks  or  cakes  of  133  lbs.  in  place  of  the  old 
saucer-shaped  cakes  of  from  4  to  \\  inches  in  diameter  and  one  inch 
thick,  by  which  a  saving  in  freight  is  effected.  The  value  of  the  wax 
shipped  from  Hiogo  in  1875  was  93,277  dollars  ;  from  Osaka  955 
piculs,  valued  at  8,986  dollars.  The  value  of  the  total  exports  from 
Japan  were  215,642  dollars  in  1874,  and  186,244  dollars  in  1875.  Of 
vegetable  tallow  there  was  exported  from  Kin  Kiang  in  China  in  1875, 
2,747  piculs.2  Of  insect  white  wax  12,560  piculs,  valued  at  £183,- 
525  were  shipped  from  Hankow  in  1875. — Jour,  of  App.  Sci  ,  April  2, 
1877.   
CHEMISTRY  of  the  Barks  of  the  OAK,  WILLOW  and  ELM. 
By  E.  Johansen. 
The  investigation  was  undertaken  with  the  view  of  ascertaining  the 
nature  of  the  different  tannin-like  substances  contained  in  the  barks  of 
the  oak,  willow  and  elm,  and  it  was  hoped,  by  isolating  these  and 
carefully  examining  their  properties  and  the  nature  of  their  principal 
compounds,  to  ascertain  whether  they  were  analogous  or  even  identical. 
By  a  long  and  elaborate  process,  the  different  tannins  were  separated 
from  the  three  barks  in  something  like  a  pure  state. 
Oak  Tannin  is  a  red-brown  amorphous  glistening  body,  easily  solu- 
^atalogue  of  the  Japanese  Section,  Philadelphia. 
^Consular  Reports. 
